Peer-to-peer name resolution protocol (PNRP) and multilevel cache for use therewith

Abstract

A serverless name resolution protocol ensures convergence despite the size of the network, without requiring an ever-increasing cache and with a reasonable numbers of hops. This convergence is ensured through a multi-level cache and a proactive cache initialization strategy. The multi-level cache is built based on a circular number space. Each level contains information from different levels of slivers of the circular space. A mechanism is included to add a level to the multi-level cache when the node determines that the last level is full. A peer-to-peer name resolution protocol (PNRP) includes a mechanism to allow resolution of names which are mapped onto the circular number space through a hash function. Further, the PNRP may also operate with the domain name system by providing each node with an identification consisting of a domain name service (DNS) component and a unique number.

1. A method of locating a target node in a peer-to-peer name resolution protocol (PNRP) space comprising:
 transmitting, from a requester node, a request message for locating the target node, the request message including a target node identifier and a peer address certificate of requester node; 
 receiving, at a local node, a response message from a best match node, the response message including a peer address certificate of the best match node and a best match node identifier; 
 comparing the peer address certificate and address information of the best match node with a local peer address certificate, of the local node and a local node identifier; 
 replacing, in the response message, the peer address certificate of the best match node with the local peer address certificate when a) the best match node identifier is not equal to the target node identifier and b) the local node identifier is closer in distance to the target node identifier than to the best match node identifier; and 
 relaying the response message to said requester node when the requester node is not the local node. 
 
   
   
     2. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising calculating the distance between an address of the peer address certificate of the best match node and the address of the local node by calculating the absolute difference between an integer value of the address of the local node and an integer value of the address of the peer address certificate of the best match node. 
   
   
     3. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising calculating the distance between an address of the peer address certificate of the best match node and the address of the best match node by calculating the absolute difference between an integer value of the address of the best match node and an integer value of the address of the peer address certificate of the best match node.